Published July 26, 2012 03:52PM
Recipe Of The Week: Black Bean & Quinoa Burgers
Try this burger recipe for a flavorful and creative way to use quinoa.
Try this burger recipe for a flavorful and creative way to use quinoa. The shaved asparagus, portabella and tomato salad adds that brightness and perfect fresh element to round out this meal. While these burgers are packed with fiber and contain an ideal ratio of carbs to protein for post training or race recovery, due to the high fiber content you may want to avoid them before those long sessions.
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Ingredients
Burger
2-15 oz cans black beans
1 ½ cups quinoa, cooked
½ red pepper, finely diced
½ yellow onion, finely diced
1 tsp garlic minced
½ cup light sour cream
1 ½ Tbsp olive oil
½ Tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Salad
1 bunch asparagus, with thick stalks
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 ½ cup portabella or baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon zest
Juice of ½ lemon
Preparation
Burger
1) In a colander drain and rinse the black beans.
2) Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Saute the red pepper and onion for 8 minutes until slightly charred. Add garlic and sauté an additional minute.
3) Add black beans to the pan and continue to sauté for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and mash with a fork, leaving some larger chunks of black beans.
4) Stir in quinoa and sour cream until well combined. Let cool.
5) Form 6 patties, compacting very well so they don’t fall apart while cooking.
6) Heat the other ½ Tbsp oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Turn heat to medium and sear burgers 3-4 minutes per side.
Salad
1) Wash the asparagus, cut off the white ends and discard. Cut off the heads and slice in half. Using a vegetable peeler, peel thin ribbons from the stalks.
2) In a bowl toss asparagus heads and ribbons with tomatoes, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
3) Heat oil in small pan over medium high heat. Saute portabellas for 2-3 minutes. Immediately add to the bowl with asparagus and tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss until combined.
4) Serve over the burgers or on top of an arugula or mixed green salad with the burgers.
More recipes from Jessica Cerra.
Jessica Cerra is the owner of Fit Food by Jess, a private chef and catering company in Encinitas, Calif. She is also a professional Xterra triathlete and mountain biker. Follow Jess’ recipes on her “Fit Food by Jess” Facebook page.